ABN AMRO takes Green Quest sustainability report to heart

The final report on the Green Quest was presented to ABN AMRO earlier today. Before joining the Green Quest, ABN AMRO had defined two ambitious goals. The first is that the bank wishes to transform its Alkmaar branch into a CO2-neutral office, to serve as a model for other medium-sized ABN AMRO branches. The other is that ABN AMRO seeks to achieve BREEAM ‘excellent’ accreditation for its head office at Gustav Mahlerlaan in Amsterdam. Although the building’s sustainability accreditation is already ‘very good’, with the Green Team’s input the bank will look at how, for the first time in the Netherlands, existing office premises can be awarded the highest BREEAM accreditation.

The two goals were in fact selected deliberately: the buildings and the targeted solutions were chosen to serve as models for other existing buildings, whether ABN AMRO’s own properties or other existing structures. The experiences can be used to benefit not only business clients, but also retail customers. Existing structures make up 98% of all development in the Netherlands. The flywheel that can be set in motion with these plans, both for the bank’s own properties and for our customers’ buildings, offers tremendous potential.

Johan van Hall of ABN AMRO’s Managing Board comments, ‘I am very pleased with the results, which are both concrete and economically feasible. As a financial service provider, of course, we see the latter factor as an important prerequisite.

‘We will take the results to heart. The plan is to realise the goals and recommendations by year-end 2015. We hope that one year from now the Green Team will come and see where we stand in our efforts to implement the solutions. We also intend to publish the final report in its entirety. Not only will this allow everyone to see what we are doing, they can also use the know-how, experience and concrete results to improve their own existing structures.’

Maurits Groen of the Green Team observes, ‘I appreciate how courageous it is for you to have taken on this challenge. Banks are under very close scrutiny right now, and you are throwing open your doors unreservedly. I was very pleasantly surprised and almost amazed that we managed to achieve this in such a short space of time. The possibilities are much greater than we had imagined. If you manage to do this, you will have every right to be proud and you will be a model for everything that is possible in the Netherlands.’

The full sustainability report of the Green Team is available for download below (Dutch only).